Deeply embedded in the Intel culture is a passion for community involvement and for volunteering in both the communities where our employees work and where we live. Intel Ireland employees have a long tradition of community engagement and 2015 was no different to previous years where Intel's Matching Grant initiative saw 158 community organisations and schools from across Ireland receive grants which totaled a remarkable €576,079.

Sonia O'Sullivan and Intel's Leonard Hobbs are pictured above celebrating the result of the Intel Matching grant program with members of community groups involved in the Program

The organisations who received funding as part of 2015 Matching Grant Program included charities such as Irish Motor Neurone Disease Association and Society of St. Vincent De Paul in Leixlip, a variety of sporting clubs ranging from GAA to Basketball Clubs, and various other organisations such as the ISPCC, scouting groups, schools and community groups.

Click Here to see a full list of the organisations.

The unique nature of this program is that it empowers employees to make a difference not only through their hours volunteered but also to reward their organisations with matched funding from the Intel Foundation.

The program aims to encourage Intel employees to engage in outreach and volunteerism by supporting them in giving their time and talent to qualified non–profit organisations and schools. After a minimum of 20 hours has been accrued by Intel employees volunteering at a school or qualified non–profit organisation, a donation or “match" will be triggered from the Intel Foundation. Grants are then paid out at $10 for every hour volunteered by an Intel employee.

In 2015 Intel employees volunteered over 80,000 hours including 67,668 that were eligible to be matched through this initiative resulting in an estimated payout of over €576,079 ($676, 680) for the recipient organisations.

This is the eighth year that Intel has implemented the current grant scheme and to date over $3.5 million has been donated to charities, schools, sports clubs, social initiatives and community schemes all across Ireland. The total number of hours volunteered by employees during this time is the equivalent of having 32 people working full time in the community for the full 5 years.

The recipient organisations received their grants at a special ceremony hosted at Intel's Leixlip campus on Thursday April 14th where a number of special guests, including Irish legend Sonia O'Sullivan, were on hand to help present the grants along with Intel employees who volunteer as part of the program.

Director of Public Affairs at Intel Ireland, Leonard Hobbs, spoke proudly at the ceremony of the thousands of hours of volunteering completed by Intel employees in 2015 which resulted in the grants “Volunteering in the community is deeply embedded in Intel's culture and the Intel Matching Grant Program aims to recognise and motivate Intel employees to engage in outreach and volunteerism in the communities where they live and work. Intel employees have exceled year on year in their commitment to make a difference in their communities by giving freely of their time and expertise and I am proud to be here today to recognise that commitment through the donation of €576,079 to 158 deserving charities, clubs and organisations from right across Ireland".

Sonia O'Sullivan addresses the audience at the Intel Matching Grant ceremony

Sonia O'Sullivan and Intel's Leonard Hobbs are pictured at special ceremony at Intel where community organisations received Matching Grants from Intel that totaled €576,076